In modern aircraft, liquid cooling systems are increasingly used to supply cooling energy to the cooling energy consumers which are present on board the aircraft, for example, food or heat-generating components, such as electronic components. Aircraft liquid cooling systems as described, for example, in DE 43 40 317 C2, DE 10 2006 005 035 B3, WO 2007/080012 A1, DE 10 2009 011 797 A1 and US 2010/0251797 A1 comprise a central compression refrigerating machine whose refrigerating capacity is distributed via a cooling circuit, which is flown through by a suitable cooling medium, to a plurality of cooling stations. The cooling stations release the cooling energy provided by the central refrigerating machine to individual cooling energy consumers.
A nominal mass flow of cooling medium to be supplied to each of the cooling stations is determined in dependence on a nominal thermal output of the cooling energy consumer associated with the cooling station and in dependence on the temperature of the cooling medium supplied to the cooling station during normal operation of the cooling system. Specifically, the supply of a nominal mass flow of cooling medium having a predetermined temperature to each of the cooling stations ensures sufficient cooling of the respective cooling energy consumers associated with the cooling station and having a cooling energy requirement depending on the thermal output, i.e. the thermal output of the cooling energy consumers during normal operation.
The duct system of the aircraft cooling system usually is specifically designed in dependence on the type and the installation site of the cooling energy consumers to be supplied with cooling energy by the cooling system. In particular, the duct system, with the aid of time-consuming and thus costly simulations, is designed in such a way that each of the cooling stations associated with a respective cooling energy consumer is supplied with the nominal volume flow of cooling medium, irrespective of the position of the cooling station in the cooling circuit and hence the distance of the cooling station from a conveying device for conveying the cooling medium through the cooling circuit. Ducts connected to cooling stations disposed at a greater distance from the conveying device typically are required to have larger cross-sectional areas than ducts connected to cooling stations disposed close to the conveying device and thus increase the installation space requirement and the weight of the cooling system.